National League South
Saturday 9th March 2024
Kick Off 19.30 On Time!
Truro City 1 Chelmsford City 4, attendance 176
4’ 0-1 (pen)
11’ 1-1
33’ 1-2
42’ 1-3
55’ 1-4 (pen)
@ TigerTurf Stadium (New Meadow Park)
Sudmeadow Road
Gloucester
GL2 5HD
£11 Admission
Programme available, didn’t bother buying.
With Truro City currently not playing in Cornwall and their ground share pitch at Taunton Town being waterlogged, they came up with the ground of Gloucester City as the best alternative they could find (just a mere 194 miles from Truro) to get this game played. The reason for the evening kick off was that Gloucester City had been at home to Boston United (they lost 3-7) at three o’clock.
I’d seen Gloucester City here in December 1990, when they beat Weymouth 2-0 in an F.A. Trophy 3rd Qualifying Round Replay (att. 682), but major work has undergone here in the intervening years, resulting in Meadow Park (pre-sponsor name) now becoming ‘New’ Meadow Park. The ground is in close proximity to the River Severn and regularly suffered from flooding in it’s original form and after being hit by the weather once again in 2007, the club vacated their home of just 22 years, resulting in ground shares at Forest Green Rovers, Cirencester Town, Cheltenham Town and Evesham United, before returning to their own ground in 2020.
The pitch has been moved about 35-40 yards from its original position and raised considerably to combat the rising water levels that caused the flooding of the past. I believe the clubhouse is from the original set up, but the ground itself is all new. Two decent sized seated stands and cover behind each goal, whilst the far side is open to the elements and of course, there is now a 3G pitch. I’d arrived in plenty of time from my afternoon game at English Bicknor, with the gates here still open from the earlier game, so was able to venture inside and get a few photos whilst there was still some daylight. I’d also managed to park right outside the ground too, although it appeared that there was no problem parking in the car park at the entrance end of the stadium. There was also time to venture beyond the far goal end too, just to see to what extent the ground had actually been shifted, as the photos below show…..old terracing still remains and the new pitch is elevated well above it’s original height.
The match itself was 18th (out of 24) versus 2nd and was a decent game to watch as a neutral. An early penalty saw Chelmsford go in front, but Truro levelled the scores after eleven minutes, when an attempted clearance from the ‘keeper, following a back pass, was charged down, resulting in the ball rebounding into the far corner of the net. Chelmsford were totally dominant and if it wasn’t for a number of outstanding saves by the Truro ‘keeper, this game would have been decided much earlier than it was. Chelmsford saw a header come back off the post as well, but finally edged back in front after 33 minutes, when a free kick was swung in from the right and finished from close range, with possibly the final touch coming right on the line, just before the ball went in? Goal number three for the visitors came just before halftime, cutting in from the left before finishing right footed into the bottom corner from the edge of the D. Any chance of a comeback disappeared ten minutes into the second half, when Chelmsford made it 1-4, with their second penalty of the game, this time in off the underside of the crossbar. They nearly added a fifth late on, but a 20 yard curler came back off the post.
It was nice to tidy this one up and do it with two other games in the area, saving me a 250 mile round trip, even though the match didn’t involve the actual home club and there probably haven’t been too many occasions where I’ve travelled fewer miles to watch a game than the two teams involved
